Baboons: Resort goes to the top
2004-06-29 22:49
Johan Rheeder
Cape Town - Out of pure desperation, concerned residents from Glencairn on the Cape Peninsula are going to approach the public protector to put a group of baboons in their place.
They say they are "sick and tired" of the destruction wreaked by the troop.
Local government is not addressing their grievances, Die Burger was told.
Now, they are going to the public protector.
One of the residents, Joan Laing, said she had decided to go to the public protector because of "the danger facing every resident".
The public protector has promised to contact Laing on Wednesday afternoon.
More than 240 residents of Da Gama Park and Glencairn in the southern Peninsula have signed a petition in which they demand that local government devises a plan to keep baboons out of the residential area.
Life has become a nightmare
Laing says she lived in Nelspruit for more than 30 years and never experienced baboon problems there.
She said her life had become a nightmare since she moved to the Peninsula in February 2003.
"Nothing is safe. They destroy everything in the residential area, and, moreover, they endanger the lives of children," she said.
She believes Cape baboons are more agressive than their counterparts in the north.
Laing said she believed the "baboon monitors" planned for the area would be "useless".
"They won't be able to stop the baboons unless they attack. We need other solutions now," she said.
Send e-mail to Jrheeder@dieburger.com
- Die Burger